Agent Orange explained

Agent Orange, the most prominent of the defoliants used by the US military in
Vietnamese jungles is to be cleaned after nearly four decades since the war
has ended.

The US sprayed approximately 21 million gallons of Agent Orange Photo: ALAMY

By Nargiza Ryskulova

3:00PM BST 09 Aug 2012

It gained its name due to the orange band around the 55-gallon drums in which it was stored, but it is not as harmless as it may sound.

The defoliant contains the most toxic of dioxins – pollutants released into the environment by burning waste, diesel exhaust, chemical manufacturing, and other processes – TCDD (tetrachlorodibenzo para dioxin), classified as a human carcinogen by the Environmental

Protection Agency. It can cause cancer, birth defects and other disabilities.

The Agent Orange was specifically developed by the US Department of Defence for "combat operations."

It was used by US troops to remove trees and dense tropical plantations to uncover North Vietnamese guerrilla troops supported by Communist party.